THE WHORLED MILKWEED AS A POISONOUS PLAISTT. 17 



the wall of the corral and fell. This was repeated two or three times, 

 and it was noticed that before falling the head was drawn toward 

 the body in somewhat the same attitude as that assumed by Horse 

 126. After 2 p. m. the steer was considered on the road to recovery 

 and was able to remain upon its feet. It was kept in the corral until 

 5.30, August 28, when it was turned into the pasture. At that time, 

 while it had recovered, it seemed somewhat weak and staggered when 

 driven. Thereafter its recovery seemed to be complete. 



On September 22, at 10.45 a. m., it was given 450 grams of dried 

 plant, which was equivalent to 0.551 pound of green plant per 

 hundredweight of animal. This animal was fed with about 5 pounds 

 of alfalfa hay, and it was expected that this quantity might be suffi- 

 cient to produce fatal results. By noon all but 2 pounds of the mix- 

 ture had been eaten, and while no note was made of the completion 

 of the feeding, it is supposed that the remainder was eaten during 

 the afternoon. 



At 7.15 a. m., September 23, the animal was found lying on the 

 right side, and evidently had been lying and kicking for a consider- 

 able period. An unusual noise was heard in the corral that morning 

 at 3.45 but was not investigated and it was presumed that the animal 

 was down at that time. The pupils were dilated and the jaw 

 moved constantly as if it were chewing. From that time until death, 

 at 3.35 p. m., the animal was upon the ground most of the time and 

 there were almost continuous spasms. It was considerably bloated 

 and frequently breathed with groans. Considerable gas was belched 

 from the stomach, which may have relieved the bloating to some ex- 

 tent. During the spasms the pupils were dilated and it was evident 

 that the animal had salivated considerabl3^ 



Sometimes it bellowed loudly as though in pain and most of the 

 time the spasms were so frequent that the motion of the legs was' 

 nearly continuous in a walking or running movement. In the spasms 

 the head was sometimes drawn back in the position of opisthotonos, 

 while at others it was drawn to the breast. This condition continued 

 until death. 



Immediately after death an autopsy was made. The body was con- 

 siderably bloated, the gas being especially evident in the first and 

 second stomachs. The blood vessels of the ileum were unusually full. 

 The only other abnormal condition was the fullness of the blood ves- 

 sels in the meninges of the brain and of the spinal cord. 



SHEEP EXPERIMENTS. 



Twenty-nine different experiments were made with sheep during 



the season of 1918. Of these 2 were sick and recovered and 10 died. 



Thirty-seven experiments with sheep were made in 1919. Of these 



4 exhibited symptoms, 4 were sick, and 3 died. A general summary 



129410°— 20— Bull. 800 ^3 



